George bracket: Cubs (69) defeat Phillies (09) in seven games

Game One: 09 Phillies 7, 69 Cubs 6 (10 innings)
WP: Madson (1-0)
LP: Regan (0-2)
HR: Rollins (2), Ibanez (3), Banks 2 (3), Howard (1)

Game Two: 69 Cubs 4, 09 Phillies 3
WP: Selma (1-0)
LP: Blanton (2-1)
Save: Aguirre (1)
HR: Hundley 2 (3), Howard (2)

Game Three: 09 Phillies 7, 69 Cubs 6
WP: Madson (2-0)
LP: Jenkins (2-2)
Save: Lidge (4)
HR: Banks (4), Jenkins (1)

Game Four: 69 Cubs 13, 09 Phillies 4
WP: Holtzman (2-0)
LP: C Lee (0-1)
Save: Nye (1)
HR: Hundley 3 (6), Rollins (3), B Williams (1), Howard (3), Utley (3)

Game Five: 69 Cubs 5, 09 Phillies 1
WP: Hands (1-1)
LP: Park (0-1)
Save: Abernathy (1)
HR: Santo (6), Banks (5), Howard (4)

Game Six: 09 Phillies 7, 69 Cubs 3
WP: Blanton (3-1)
LP: Jenkins (2-3)
HR: Werth (1), Santo (7)

Game Seven: 69 Cubs 7, 09 Phillies 6 (10 innings)
WP: Regan (1-2)
LP; Lidge (0-2)
HR: Banks (6), Beckert (1), Santo (8)

This series began with an extra inning game. It ended with an extra inning game. In between, it featured plenty of power.

Game One, in Wrigley Field, was a pitchers duel for seven innings, with Bill Hands and the Cubs holding a 2-1 lead over Cole Hamels and the Phillies. In the top of the eighth, Hands retired the first two men, only to allow four straight singles followed by a homer by Raul Ibanez. But Brett Myers, handed the 6-2 lead in the ninth inning, opened the frame by walking Billy Williams. Ron Santo singled and Ernie Banks homered to make the score 6-5. Two outs later, pinch-hitter Jim Qualls singled home Randy Hundley for the tie.

Ryan Howard greeted Phil Regan in the top of the 10th with his first homer of the tournament, and Ryan Madson, who had finished the ninth, made that lead stand up in the bottom of the inning.

The Cubs never trailed Game Two behind Dick Selma and Hank Aguirre, Randy Hundley hit a two-run homer in the second inning, Howard evened the score at 3 with a two-run shot in the seventh,and Hundley responded in the bottom of the inning with a solo homer. Aguirre threw two perfect innings for the save.

The series shifted to Citzens Bank Ballpark for Game Three, and runs were plentiful. The Phillies scored one in the first inning and two more in the second off Fergie Jenkins. Banks clubbed a two-run homer as the Cubs tied it in the fourth. Jenkins hit a homer of his own in the seventh as the Cubs took a 5-3 lead, but the Phillies scored four unearned runs in the eighth (errors by Glenn Beckert and Don Kessinger) and hung on for the win.

Game Four was Randy Hundley Power Day. The Cubs catcher hit three homers: a solo homer in the second for a 1-0 lead; a solo homer in the sixth that made it 5-2; and a grand slam later in the sixth to cap a nine-run inning off Cliff Lee and Chad Durbin, Ken Holtzman gave up four runs on three homers in six innings, and Rich Nye finished with three scoreless frames for the long save. Every Cubs starter scored at least one run.

The Cubs went on to take Game Five behind a strong start from Hands: Seven innings of three-hit ball. He was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the top of the eighth as the Cubs broke a 1-1 tie against Chan Ho Park, who had bailed starter Cole Hamels out of the seventh.

Back in Wrigley, the Phillies extended the series by pummeling Jenkins for five runs in five innings, highlighted by a three-run homer by Jayson Werth. Werth had four RBIs for the game. Joe Blanton allowed just two runs in seven innings.

Game Seven lived up to the drama inherent in a Game Seven. Ibanez singled home Chase Utley in the third for a 1-0 lead against Holtzman, pitching on short rest. Beckert hit an unlikely two-run homer in the bottom of the inning for the lead. Banks hit another two-run homer in the fourth, and Ron Santo another in the fifth, all off Jamie Moyer, and the Cubs had a 6-1 lead after six innings.

The Phillies rallied for three in the seventh to chase Holtzman, with RBI doubles from Ben Francisco (subbing for the injured Werth) and Ibanez. The Phillies picked up a run in the eighth off Aguirre to make it 6-5 Cubs, and tied it in the ninth. Howard led off with a triple off Aguirre. Regan entered to fan Franscisco and get Ibanez on a grounder on which Howard could not advance. But with two outs, Carlos Ruiz doubled Howard home.

Regan and Madson held the game there into the bottom of the tenth, when Brad Lidge entered for the Phillies. He got pinch-hitter Qualls and Kessinger to start the inning, but then walked Beckert. Williams doubled, and Beckert beat Shane Victorino's throw to the plate with the run that won the series.

Player of the series: Randy Hundley and Ernie Banks each hit five homers. But Hundley was 14-for-22 with eight runs scored and nine RBIs, and the honor goes to him.

Player availability: Cubs bullpen fully available.

Projected rotation: Hands-Jenkins-Holtzman-Hands-(Jenkins)-(Holzman or Selma)-(Hands)

Stat break: 87 Blue Jays

Hitters

Name                AB   R   H   RBI  2B  3B  HR  BB  SB  Avg,
Barfield             47     7  11     5        3    1     1     2      0     .234
G Bell                47    8  12      8        1    0     5     2      0     .255
T Fernandez      36    4   11      2        2    0     0     2      4    .306
C Fielder           12     4    3     3        0    0      2     1      0    .250
Gruber               30    1    4      1        2    1     0      2      0    .133
G Iorg                25    0    7      4       5     0     0     2      0    .280
M Lee                  3     0    1     1       0    0     0      0      0    .333
Liriano                 7     0    0     0       0    0     0      0      0    .000
McGriff             25     5    6     7       1    0     2      8      0     .240
C Moore              9     1    3     2       1     0     0      1      0    .333
Moseby             43     8  12     5        2     0     3      6      2    .279
Mulliniks          29     4    8     3       0      0     3      6      0    .276
Upshaw             40     4    8     5       0     0     2       5     0    .200
Whitt                 34     5  10     3       3     0     0       1      0    .294

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.   W    L   ERA

Cerutti                3      0      6.3       6      1     1      1       2       1      1    0    1.42
Clancy                3      3    19        23   11    10      5    12        0     0     0    4.74

Eichhorn            7      0       9.3       7     2      2      3      7        0     2     1    1.93

Henke                6      0      6           5     0      0      0      7        5      1    0    0.00

Key                    3      3    21        20    11    11     4     11       0      1    1     4.71

Musselman        4      0      5.3      10     9      7      3       4      0      1    0   11.82

P Niekro            2      2    14         11     5      5      1       7       0      1   1     3.21

J Nunez             1      0       2          0     0      0      1      3       1      0     0     0.00

Stieb                  3      3    18         18     5      4      7    19       0      1     0     2.00

Stat break: 87 Rangers

Hitters

Name              AB   R   H   RBI  2B  3B  HR  BB  SB  Avg,
Brower            29     1    6    5        1    0    0      3      1    .207
Browne           55     8  17    5        2    0    1      3      1    .309
Buechele         42     7  12    7        3    0    2      4      0    .286
Fletcher           40     6    8    4        0    1    1      4      2    .200
Incaviglia        51   10  12    7        4    3    0      0      0    .235
McDowell       25     2    7    6        3    0    2      0      0    .280
O'Brien           46     5  12    4        1    0    2      3       0    .267
O'Malley           4     0    3    0       1    0     0     1       0     .750
Paciorek          16    3     5   4        0    0    2      0       0     .313
Parrish             51    8   13   8        0    0    3      4      0     .255
Petralli            26    5    15   5        2    1    1      3      0     .577
Porter               1    0    0     0        0    0    0       0      0     .000
Sierra             42    6    5     3        1    0    2       3      0     .119
Slaught            2     0    0    0         0    0    0      0      0      .000
Stanley          16     2    3     4        1    0    1      1     0      .188
Wilkerson       6     2    3     1        0    1     0      0      0     .500

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.   W    L   ERA

Guzman            3      3     23.6     17      8      8      5     18       0     2     1    3.04
Harris                1      0       0.3       0      0      0      0       0       0     0    0     0.00

Hough               5     5     33.6      35    27    26    25     32       0     1     3    6.95

Howe                6      0      6.3        3      0      0      1       4       0      1    0    0.00

Kilgus               2      2    15         13      3      3      3      5        0      2    0    1.50

Loynd               2      0      5           4     2       2      1      3        0      0     0    3.60

Mohorcic          3     0       3.6        5      4      1      1      1        0      0     1    2.45

Russell              3     0       4.3        5      1       1      1     1        0       0     0   2.08

M. Williams      5     0       4.3       4      3       0      1      2       3      0      1    0.00

B. Witt              3      3    18,3     17       7      7    16    19       0      1     0     3.44

Ringo bracket: Blue Jays (87) defeat Rangers (87) in seven games

Game One: 87 Rangers 5, 87 Blue Jays 3 (11 innings)
WP: Howe (1-0)
LP: Eichhorn (0-1)
Save: Mi Williams (2)
HR: Moseby (1), Parrish (2), Sierra (2), O'Brien (1)

Game Two: 87 Blue Jays 5, 87 Rangers 4
WP: Eichhorn (1-1)
LP: Mi Williams (0-1)
Save: Henke (3)

Game Three: 87 Blue Jays 5, 87 Rangers 0
WP: Stieb (1-0)
LP: Guzman (2-1)
Save: Cerutti (1)
HR: McGriff (1)

Game Four: 87 Rangers 9, 87 Blue Jays 3
WP: Hough (1-2)
LP: P Niekro (1-1)
HR: O'Brien (2), Upshaw (1), G Bell (4)

Game Five: 87 Rangers 3, 87 Blue Jays 1
WP: Kilgus (2-0)
LP: Key (1-1)
Save: Mi Williams (3)

Game Six: 87 Blue Jays 8, 87 Rangers 7
WP: Cerutti (1-0)
LP: Mohorcic (0-1)
Save: Henke (4)
HR: Parrish (3), Upshaw (2), Paciorek 2 (2), McGriff (2), Moseby (2)

Game Seven: 87 Blue Jays 3, 87 Rangers 2
WP: Eichhorn (2-1)
LP: Hough (1-3)
Save: Henke (5)
HR: G Bell (5), Moseby (3)


The 1987 Blue Jays survived a series marked by bullpen meltdowns and injuries.

The Jays jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in Game One at Toronto's old Exhibition Stadium. Lloyd Moseby hit a two-run homer in the first off Rangers ace Charlie Hough, and errors by shortstop Scott Fletcher and catcher Mike Stanley brought home an unearned run in the second. But the Rangers got solo homers from Pete O'Brien in the fourth and Larry Parrish and Ruben Sierra in the fifth (back-to-back) for a tie, Hough ptiched into the ninth, Jimmy Key into the eighth. Mark Eichhorn gave up a triple to Pete Incaviglia sandwiched around a pair of walks in the 11th, and by the time John Cerutti got out of the mess the Rangers had two runs, which stood up in the bottom of the inning.

Toronto evened the series in Game Two. Garth Iorg doubled in runs in the fourth and sixth innings off Bobby Witt, and Jim Clancy turned the 2-0 lead over to lefty Jeff Musselman in the eighth. But Musselman got only one out, and the Rangers took a 4-2 lead (Stanley and Bob Brower with two RBIs apiece). Mitch Williams entered for the bottom of the eighth. After Sierra, playing center after Oddibe McDowell went down for the series, committed an error on the first play of the inning, Williams gave up a single, then got two outs. But Tony Fernandez followed with a double and Kelly Gruber drew a walk to load the bases. Jeff Russell entered and gave up a pair of hits. The three-run inning gave the Jays the lead again, and Tom Henke did not follow the meltdown pattern.

The series shifted to Arlington Stadium, and Dave Stieb got an immediate lead in Game Three when Fred McGriff hit a two-run homer in the first inning. Mosby had a sac fly in the fourth and Iorg drove in two more runs in the fifth. Stieb loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning with one out; Cerutti relieved, got Sierra to ground into a double play and then threw three more innings of one-hit ball for the long save. Fernandez left in mid-game with an injury.

The Rangers won Game Four handily despite two injuries of their own, to Sierra and Fletcher. Hough prevailed in a matchup of knuckleballers (Phil Niekro). Hough went eight innings while Texas hit three triples off Niekro and Musselman. Niekro went seven innings, allowing four runs; Musselman gave up five in the bottom of the eighth.

Paul Kilgus gave the Rangers the series lead in Game Five with eight innings of one-run ball. He allowed six hits and walked one. The lineup got three runs off Key in the fourth -- single by Parrish, double by Incaviglia, singles by Tom Paciorek and O'Brien.

The series returned to Toronto, and for a brief while in Game Six the Rangers appeared to have it in hand. Incaviglia doubled and scored in the second. Willie Upshaw tied it with third-inning homer. In the sixth the Rangers exploed for five runs off Jim Clancy. Pacoriek led off with a homer, and after a walk and two singles, Parrish hit a grand slam. The Jays got three runs back off Witt in their half of the inning, with a solo homer from Mosby and a two-run shot from McGriff. Paciorek homered again off Cerutti in the seventh for a 7-4 lead.

And then the game, and the series, turned. Dale Mohorcic got the first out in the bottom of the eighth. But then Fletcher booted an apparent double-play ball, and McGriff, Ernie Whitt and Upshaw all had RBI hits while centerfielder Brower -- playing there because of the injuries to Sierra and McDowell -- added an error. Three of the four runs were unearned.

Hough and Stieb dueled in Game Seven. George Bell homered in the first; the Rangers tied it in the second. Moseby homered in the third. the Rangers finally answered with a run in the seventh to chase Stieb. In the bottom of the seventh, Moseby drew a one-out walk. Fernandez singled him to second, and with two outs McGriff singled him home. Eichhorn and Henker avoided the bullpen meltdowns that marked the series, and the Jays advanced.

Player of the series: Fred McGriff was 6-for-17 with seven RBIs, five runs, two homers and six walks.

Player availability: All Toronto injuries have expired. Clancy can pitch Game Two with penalty. Stieb cannot pitch until Game Three.

Projected rotation: Key-Clancy-Stieb-Niekro-(Key)-(Clancy)-(Stieb). Niekro gets the nod again if only to have him face his brother Joe in Game Four.

Stat break: 09 Cardinals

Hitters

Name                AB   R   H   RBI   2B  3B   HR   BB   SB   Avg,
Ankiel                  22     1     4     0       2    0      0      0      0      .182
DeRosa              18     2     2     3       0    0      1      1      0       .111
C Duncan           11     1     1     0       0    0      0       0      0      .091
K Greene            19     2     3     3       0    0     1       0      0      .158
Holliday               43     3   17     3       3    0      0      4      0      .395
Ludwick               39     2     8     4       1    0      1      4       0     .205
Lugo                    26     3    6      2       2    0      0      1       0     .231
Y Molina              47     2    9      4       0    0      0      5       2     .191
Pujols                  45     8   13   10       2     0     4       7      0     .289
Rasmus              49      6  15     4       2     0     2       1      0      .306
Ryan                   40      1    8     1       2     1      0      3      2      .200
Schumaker         30      4     7    1       2     0      1      2      0      .233
Thurston             27      1     6     3      1     1      0      1      1      .222

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.     W    L     ERA

Carpenter          4      4     32.3    30     8      7      3    18        0      2     1      1.95
Franklin             5      0        6        5     3      3      2       3        2      0     1      4.50
Hawksworth      4      0       3.6      5     2      2      1      3        0      0     0       4.90
Lohse                2      2       9.3    11     7      7      1      6        0      0     2       6.75
McClellan          5      0       6.3      6     2      2      3      1        0      0     1       2.84
T Miller              4      0       3.3      3     3      3      3      2        0      0     0       8.11

Pineiro              3      3     21.3    15     4      3       3      4        0      2     0       1.27
Reyes               4      0       3.6      1     1      1       0      0        0      0     1       2.45

Smoltz              1      1       4         4     0      0       0      3        0      0     0       0.00

Wainwright       3      3     22.3    22     9      9       8    10        0      2     1       3.63

Wellmeyer        3      0       5         7     4      4       2      3        0      0     0       7.20

Stat break: 09 White Sox

Hitters

Name                  AB     R   H   RBI   2B  3B   HR   BB   SB   Avg,

Beckham              45       7  12     5       0    1      2      6      0      .267
Dye                       47      8   13   10      1    0      2      7      0      .277

Fields                      6      0     1     1       0    0      0      0      0      .167

Getz                     32      4     6     4       2    0      1      3      0      .188

Konerko               52      7   15     4       1    0      3      1      0      .288

Kotsay                 28      3     8     0       3     0      1      1      0      .286

J Nix                     13      2     5     2       0     1      1      0      0     .385

Pierzynski            51      4   14     6       3    0      0      3      0       .275

Podsednik            37      5     8     5       1    0      1      2       1      .216

Quentin                22      2     4     4       0    0      1      2       0      .182

Ale Ramirez         47      7   12     8       0     0      1     4       1     .255

Rios                     16      2     3     0       1     0      0      1       2     .188
Thome                 26      4     7     3       1     0      0      9       0     .269

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.     W    L     ERA

Buehrle             4     4       29      27   16    16      9     15        0      1     2      4.97
D Carrasco      3      0         5.6     9     3      3      3       3       0      0     0       4.76
Conteras          1      1         5.3     7     3      3      0       1       0      0     1       5.07
Danks              3      3       19      17   11    10      9       8        0      0     1      4.74
Dotel                4      0         5        8     3      3      3       7        0      0     0      5.40
Floyd                3      3      19      20    13    11    10    13        0      2     1       5.21
Jenks               5      0         5        1      0      0     0       3        4      1      0      0.00

Linebrink          3      0        2        6      6      5      1       1        0      1     0    22.50
Peavy               2     2       15       7      0      0      2     15        0      2     0       0.00
Richard            2      0         5       8      4      4      2       5        0      0    0       7.20

Thornton          3      0        4        3     2      2      1        6        0      1     0      4.50

John bracket: White Sox (09) defeat Cardinals (09) in six games

Game One: 09 White Sox 5, 09 Cardinals 2
WP: Linebrink (1-0)
LP: Carpenter (1-1)
Save: Jenks (2)
HR: Rasmus (2)

Game Two: 09 White Sox 1, 09 Cardinals 0
WP: Peavy (1-0)
LP: Lohse (0-1)
Save: Jenks (3)

Game Three: 09 Cardinals 8, 09 White Sox 3
WP: Wainwright (2-1)
LP: Danks (0-1)
HR: K Greene (1)

Game Four: 09 White Sox 5, 09 Cardinals 3
WP: Floyd (2-1)
LP: McClellan (0-1)
Save: Jenks (4)
HR: Dye (2), Konerko (3), Schumaker (1)

Game Five: 09 Cardinals 7, 09 White Sox 1
WP; Carpenter (2-1)
LP: Buehrle (1-2)
HR: DeRosa (1), Pujols 2 (4)

Game Six: 09 White Sox 9, 09 Cardinals 0
WP: Peavy (2-0)
LP: Lohse (0-2)
HR: Beckham (2), Podsednik (1)

The 2009 White Sox won all three of the competitive games in the series before blowing out the 2009 Cardinals for the clincher.

Chris Carpenter and Mark Buehrle dueled in the opener, played in the 2009 version of Busch Stadium. Albert Pujols drove in a first inning run with a sac fly, then committed an error that resulted in the tying run scoring in the second. Gordon Beckham tripled and scored in the fourth; Colby Rasmus tied it in the bottom of the inning with a homer. The 2-2 tie held into the ninth, when the Sox strung together five singles off Carpenter, Todd Wellmeyer and Dennys Reyes for three runs.

Jake Peavy, Octavio Dotel and Bobby Jenks combined for a 1-0 shutout in Game Two. Peavy allowed four hits in six innings, Dotel one in two innings and Jenks was perfect in the ninth. The sole run off Kyle Lohse came in the fifth, when Jermaine Dye led off with a double, took third on an Alexi Ramirez single and scored on Chris Getz' grounder to second. Lohse allowed just two hits in his six innings.

The series shifted to the South Side of Chicago, and the Cardinals picked up their first win of the series behind Adam Wainwright's pitching and an unlikely three run homer from Kahil Greene. Wainwright went 7.1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits. Greene's fourth inning homer came off John Danks. Matt Holliday was 4-for-4 off  Danks and the Sox bullpen with two RBIs and a walk.

Game Four was crucial. The Cardinals' Joel Pinero carried a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh, when he needed help from Trevor Miller to escape a jam. Miller stayed in to face Jim Thome in the eighth; Thome doubled. Right hander Kyle McClellan entered; he walked Paul Konerko, then yielded a three-run homer to Dye, and what had looked like a series-tying St. Louis win turned into a dramatic Chicago victory.

The Cardinals resisted defeat in Game Five. Carpenter allowed just one run on five hits (Reyes did get the final out), while Pujols, who had had just one hit entering the game, hit a pair of homers off Buehrle. Mark DeRosa also hit a three-run homer. The rout sent the series back to St. Louis.

And there, in Game Six, the Sox got a rout of their own. Beckham hit a two-run homer in the third, Scott Podsednik hit a three-run homer int he fourth. Jake Peavy not only threw a four-hit shutout, he drove in a pair of runs with bases-loaded safety squeeze bunts. Peavy walked one and struck out eight; he faced just three batters over the minimum.

Player of the Series: Peavy for his 15 innings of shutout ball in two wins.

Player availability: Peavy will be inactive for the third round. The big three of the Chicago rotation will be fully eligible for any game.

Projected rotation: Buehrle-Danks-Floyd-Freddy Garcia-(Buehrle)-(Danks)-(Floyd)